Page 40 of Here's to Now

“You can make your own,” I offer.

She stares up at me, her eyes glazed over with unshed tears. “That’s what I’m trying to do with you.”

Reaching over, I brush away the tear that’s beginning to fall. “Good.” She rolls away, turning onto her back again, pulling the blankets up to her chin like she’s attempting to protect herself in some way. “Is that your secret?” I ask.

She shakes her head as she reaches over and turns off the bedside lamp. “No, but we can say it is and call it a night. I’m beat.”

She settles back down and I do the same, getting as comfortable in a still unfamiliar bed as I can. I’m moments away from sleep when I hear Haley call my name.

“Yeah?” I answer sleepily.

“Can we not say anything to my sister and your friend?”

I open one eye to find her propped on her elbow again, hovering over me expectantly. “You ashamed of me, Hales?”

I’m teasing her, but she drops her head. My stomach plummets.Did I just hit the nail on the head?My fight-or-flight instincts kick in, wanting to save myself from potentially hearing anything that could tear me down further.

“No,” she says. “I’d just like to have something for me, you know? Something I don’t have to explain or share. Is that okay?”

Is that okay? Do I want to sneak around like this with someone I’m not even sleeping with?Technically youaresleeping together, annoying version of myself says.Yeah? Well technically my ass, I tell it.

I understand where Haley’s coming from, fully. I’m a private guy. I’m not much of a talker, but somehow she’s managed to get more out of me these last few days than Hudson and Tucker could after years of knowing them. But this? I don’t know. I could do it. I have no problems being sneaky. Only…it feels like it cheapens our friendship in a way.

Or does it make it that much sweeter, bind you two closer in a way?

Oh. Good point, annoying Gaige. It does.And I’d like someone to get close to, especially a friend that doesn’t complicate anything going on outside all the other shit I have to deal with right now.

I hear rather than see her lick her lips. “We don’t have to. You can tell anyone you want about the crazy girl who invited you into her bed.

“No,” I tell her. “I’d actually like that. It’d be nice to have someone that’s just there and doesn’t expect something out of me.”

She smiles, and the dark room instantly brightens. “We’re going to be great best friends.”

“I hope so,” I tell her honestly. “I hope so.”

A few hours later, still feeling bleary from the lack of sleep, I quietly make my way around the room, trying not to wake Haley.

“You’re not being as stealthy as usual this morning,” she says groggily. “Your footsteps sound like bricks.”

“Are you saying I have big feet?”

“Heavy, not big. Although big wouldn’t be so bad. You know what they say about big feet…”

“Big socks?”

“The biggest.”

I slink over to her side of the bed and she smiles when she sees me. “I think you farted in your sleep last night.”

“That was you, Gaige. Girls don’t fart.”

“Are you sure?”

“Well, since I have a vagina and I am a girl, yes, I’m positive.”

“It’s too early in the morning for lies.”

Her tired eyes flutter as her lips twitch at the corners. “Fair enough.”

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